Chapter 528: Is It Really Wrong?

Inside the dimly lit little shop, chaos reigned. Shattered glass littered the floor, metal shelves had collapsed and then melted under high heat, turning into a puddle of sludge, and a pungent smell hung in the air.

In the corner, Lu Yibei slumped against the wall, sitting on the ground. Her clothes looked as if they’d been scorched by fire or corroded by acid, full of holes, revealing glimpses of her fair skin beneath.

Her right hand rested on a cooking oil drum she’d found from who knows where, half-filled with a thick, pitch-black liquid.

By the faint moonlight, she stared blankly at the mess before her, lost in thought.

It had been a long time since she’d felt such danger during a haunting transformation.

She’d almost forgotten just how perilous the forces inside her could be. Just half a year ago, every haunting transformation had nearly cost her half her life.

But during her recent haunting transformations, things had clearly become less dangerous–so why had it suddenly turned out like this?

Lu Yibei grumbled inwardly, listing all the possibilities she could think of.

First possibility: residual power.

Whether it was using Wang Yingying’s flesh and blood to reconstruct her body, or fusing the core entity of a mythical type haunting into the Divine Land prototype, both could cause this.

The principle behind it was similar to the side effects of over-devouring a haunting’s core entity, belonging to what the PL girl called the “life-burning” path among the three advancement routes for hauntings.

Maybe repairing the Pure Lotus Sword and entrusting the Divine Land prototype to it would help alleviate things.

Second possibility: Spirit Pattern out of control.

Where there is oppression, there is resistance–an eternal truth.

Had the little bro been oppressed so long that he’d finally snapped?

The only solution was to get a suitable Visualized Diagram and practice the Spirit Seal.

Although that pesky little sister and Meng were both high-tier hauntings and could serve as visualization targets, their powers neither complemented nor suppressed Eifrit.

Besides…

Wouldn’t visualizing that pesky little sister risk an accidental pregnancy?

Third possibility: could it be related to Huá Sāng?

After all, both anomalies had occurred after contact with her.

No, no, it’s still too early to draw such a conclusion. More contact and experiments are needed to be sure.

After pondering for a while, Lu Yibei sighed and said, “Ah, I still need to find a way to sneak into the Great Pure Palace as soon as possible!”

After thinking it over, Lu Yibei felt that aside from the aftereffects of reconstructing her body, whether it was repairing the Pure Lotus Sword, finding a suitable Visualized Diagram, or having more contact with Huá Sāng, all required sneaking into the Great Pure Palace.

“But…” Lu Yibei’s gaze drifted to the cooking oil drum by her right hand. “Difficulties are temporary, but profit is eternal!”

“Half a drum of disaster water, hehe, I’m amazing!”

Muttering to herself, Lu Yibei steadied her mind, and with a thought, summoned the jacket from the Divine Land prototype.

“Vmm!”

A psychic energy fluctuation trembled, and a half-human-tall vortex of light unfurled. The light and shadow around twisted, and with a soft “flap!” like wings fluttering, a “barrage” flashed through Lu Yibei’s mind.

Lady Witch, your cutie is here! (^o^)/

Right after, a red-and-white windbreaker shot out from the vortex, circling joyfully in the air like a bird before gently landing on Lu Yibei’s shoulders, then raising its collar and nuzzling her cheek affectionately.

“Stop it, that tickles!” Lu Yibei lightly patted the jacket. “My clothes are ruined, hurry and turn into something wearable.”

At her words, the jacket immediately began to rustle and morph.

“Be good, don’t pull any tricks.” Lu Yibei shot the jacket a sidelong glance and added. The jacket’s movements paused, then it quickly reversed the half-formed Bai Xiaohua fifth anniversary limited edition dress it was turning into.

Lady Witch, is this okay? ✧(^＿-✿

A “barrage” flashed through her mind. Lu Yibei looked down and frowned slightly.

A pink, tight, cropped T-shirt with a Jigglypuff face on it, and denim shorts patched with floral fabric…

Even though this “Jigglypuff” looked malnourished like a child, so there wasn’t much of a figure to see–barely acceptable–but weren’t these shorts a bit too short?

Looking at those long legs, almost completely exposed, anyone who saw them would inevitably think, “Such pretty legs, what a waste not to pedal a tricycle with them.”

Lu Yibei pondered for a few seconds, then said to the jacket with a blank face, “Jacket, there are more mosquitoes lately.”

Hearing this, the jacket worked its little brain, thought for a moment, then understood its master’s meaning. With a squirm, it added a thin layer of gauze skirt over the shorts.

Its logic was simple: if there are mosquitoes, just add a mosquito net!

“……”

Lu Yibei was silent for a few seconds, then sighed soundlessly. “Just change back to the previous one. I can’t pull off this style…”

——–

Ten minutes later, by the roadside not far from Hua City Airport.

Lu Yibei stood by the road, marveling at the convenience of the Divine Land prototype, yet helpless about its flaws.

Sure, she could store things like the Paper Cicada Immortal, Pure Lotus Sword, Alchemical Bomb, and even living things like the jacket and Wang Yingying in the Divine Land prototype. Within Hua City, she only needed a thought to summon them to her side.

But she herself couldn’t use the Divine Land prototype to teleport freely within Hua City–a major shortcoming.

As the controller of the Divine Land prototype, she was like a teleportation marker. Only when she was in Hua City could she precisely summon things from the Divine Land prototype to her side.

And if she herself was inside the Divine Land prototype…

Well, she’d already tried it: once she teleported to the stratosphere at over 19,000 meters, and another time to the depths of Mudan Street–almost appearing right at the door of The Midnight Watchers Society in Hua City, basically turning herself in on the spot.

“Maybe after I anchor the Divine Land prototype onto the Pure Lotus Sword, the teleportation will become a bit more stable?” Lu Yibei muttered to herself.

But if I can see Black Peony again, I’ll finally be able to refute her claim that “there’s no such thing as spatial storage for items in this world.” Lu Yibei thought to herself, secretly pleased.

However, what she didn’t know was that if she really used the Divine Land prototype to refute Black Peony, she’d most likely end up getting tied into an “untouchable” shape by Black Peony’s red string, all because of her showing off.

After all, the Divine Land is a rare treasure even among catastrophe-class hauntings. Even Black Peony, who once was a world-ending factor, never possessed one.

After waiting a moment, Lu Yibei saw a taxi with an “empty” sign lit up coming from the end of the road. She raised her small hand and waved gently.

The next moment, the taxi pulled up beside her.

She opened the car door, and two familiar faces met, nodding to each other in silent understanding.

What is a bond? This is a bond!

So what if I can’t teleport at will?

As long as I’m within Hua City, I can “summon” Uncle Zhang Shan!

Thinking this, Lu Yibei closed the car door, hugged her little bucket tightly, and obediently sat in the back seat of the taxi.

How could I put my money into the Divine Land prototype? Of course I have to hold it myself to feel at ease!

“Old Zhang, please head to Xingfu Community!”

As he started the car, Uncle Zhang Shan glanced at Lu Yibei through the rearview mirror and frowned, “What’s that you’re holding?”

Lu Yibei looked down at the little bucket in her arms and replied earnestly, “Isn’t it obvious? Oil. Jinfengyu 1:1:1 blended oil.”

“That can’t be right,” Uncle Zhang Shan said suspiciously. “Since when does blended oil look like asphalt? Let me have a sniff?”

Lu Yibei, “……”

Goodness, you actually dare to smell this stuff?

Sir, have you been getting bolder lately?

But I still advise you to obey the law and not attempt to drive under the influence!

For the sake of Uncle Zhang Shan’s health, Lu Yibei said helplessly, “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you what it is. I’m just worried you’ll be scared.”

“Haha!” Uncle Zhang Shan chuckled twice. “Ever since I heard your stories, my courage has grown a lot. I won’t be scared.”

“Tsk, the thing is, this liquid is a very special kind of liquid, you know?”

“How special?”

Lu Yibei thought for a moment, then said seriously, “In general terms, it’s just oil. You can think of it as nitroglycerin.”

“Yeah, the enhanced version.”

Zhang Shan, “???”

Nitroglycerin–isn’t that a powerful explosive? And an enhanced version? She actually brought something like that onto my car?

Lu Yibei glanced at Uncle Zhang Shan and saw him constantly sneaking peeks at the little bucket in her arms. She tilted her head, “Since you like it so much…”

“How about I give you a little? Consider it this ride’s fare.”

As she spoke, her small hand nimbly twisted open the bucket’s lid.

Zhang Shan, “!!!”

In an instant, he felt as if he’d returned to the past, to a familiar sensation.

The feeling of a heart attack…

And so, the screech of brakes echoed along the deserted airport highway at night.

——–

Fear awakened the potential of Hua City’s second god of cars. From the airport highway to the gates of Xingfu Community, a distance of about thirty kilometers, Uncle Zhang Shan took only a dozen minutes.

In the daytime, this would be a serious case of speeding–dangerous to himself and others, and he’d rack up over a dozen tickets. But at night…

He’d only be mistaken for a ghost taxi haunting.

After paying the fare, Lu Yibei got out of the car. After walking a short distance, she turned back, leaned on the car window, and asked in confusion, “Uncle, why aren’t you leaving yet?”

Could he be hoping to pick up another fare at the gate of Xingfu Community?

At this hour, the only passengers he’d get would be hauntings heading out to scare people, right?

If this keeps up, he might really become a dedicated driver for hauntings. Lu Yibei thought to herself.

Still shaken, Uncle Zhang Shan was about to light a cigarette with trembling hands to calm his nerves, when he suddenly heard a voice outside the window. His body jolted, and his lighter fell under the seat.

“Tired, just want to smoke a cigarette and take a break.” He tried his best to suppress his fear and replied calmly, his gaze drifting–intentionally or not–to the “Jinfengyu” in Lu Yibei’s hand.

“Take your time then, I’ll be going now!”

“Mm, be careful on the road…”

Lu Yibei left. Uncle Zhang Shan fumbled under the seat for his lighter and finally lit his cigarette.

As he exhaled smoke and watched the girl’s figure disappear into the distance, he narrowed his eyes. In his mind, a haunting incident about the “midnight bomb arson girl” gradually began to take shape.

——–

Underground at Xingfu Community, Hua City Calamity Irresponsible Scare Company.

The green glow of the emergency exit signs, mixed with the faint light emitted by the hauntings themselves, illuminated the vast space.

Not long ago, the office area still looked like a cozy café, but under the influence of the psychic energy fluctuations radiating from the hauntings, it had already begun to take on a sinister air: the sofas were decayed and ruined, human-shaped water stains appeared on the walls, and dust drifted through the air.

One after another, bizarre, bloody, and gloomy “employees” hurried back and forth, their steps quick.

At the end of the corridor, inside a conference room without a meeting table.

Du Sixian, dressed in a sharp professional suit, stood at the front of the conference room, one hand on her hip, her beautiful eyes sweeping sharply over the eight hauntings who were either squatting, lying down, or sprawled out in front of her, and snapped fiercely, “What have you all been doing lately?”

“Eight regions, and only two barely met their KPIs. Can you even do your jobs properly? I really…”

Halfway through her sentence, the conference room door suddenly opened.

A girl with long, pale pink hair poked half her body inside, glanced around, and when she saw Du Sixian, her eyes lit up and she waved.

“Hero!” Du Sixian called out softly, her expression a mix of excitement and a hint of grievance. She hurried forward, bringing Lu Yibei into the conference room. “You’re finally back! This time, you really have to talk to them!”

As Du Sixian walked to the front of the room, Lu Yibei glanced over the hauntings inside. All familiar faces.

Seeing Lu Yibei arrive, and sensing the psychic energy fluctuation faintly radiating from her–seemingly even stronger and more unfathomable than before–the hauntings all tensed up, unconsciously sitting up straight.

One by one, these strange and gruesome, or sinister and bloody beings, suddenly behaved as obediently as elementary school students waiting for a teacher’s scolding.

Lu Yibei withdrew her gaze from the hauntings and turned to Du Sixian, asking, “What’s wrong with them?”

“They’ve been slacking off way too much lately,” Du Sixian said, rubbing her throbbing brow.

“What? With our benefits being so good, they’re still slacking off?” Lu Yibei said in surprise.

If possible, they should go experience life at The Midnight Watchers Society–working 9-9-7 plus being on call 24/7, Lu Yibei thought.

Finally, a haunting with a human head and a bird’s body couldn’t withstand the pressure from Lu Yibei’s cold face and stepped forward to defend itself, “Lady Calamity, we’re being wronged! We haven’t been slacking off, it’s just…”

“Just what?”

“It’s just that we’re only scaring people, not actually hunting. Lately, some humans have gotten so much braver, it’s really hard to frighten them anymore.”

Hard to scare them now? Lu Yibei propped her chin with one hand, pondering for two seconds. “Tell me, how exactly are you scaring them?”

So, the haunting began to explain, following the scare routines summarized by the planning department, and the other hauntings chimed in, all talking at once.

“Wait!”

When she heard one haunting say they always appeared suddenly from dark corners to scare humans, Lu Yibei couldn’t help but interrupt, “You mean, almost every time you scare someone, you show yourselves at the end?”

“Yeah, the planning department thinks that letting humans see what we look like helps spread the haunting incident, so we can keep getting psychic energy supplies.”

“Keep supplying my ass! That’s not going to work at all!” Lu Yibei said sternly. “Human fear never comes from the haunting itself. Making them imagine things, scaring themselves–that’s real terror.”

“For example, if your target is a single man living alone, you can keep changing little details in his daily life.”

“Like, before he gets up in the morning, leave a few strands of foul-smelling long hair in his bathroom sink–add a little more every day. Then, while he’s asleep, come out to eat his food, use his things, delete his work files from his computer, and keep it up even if he moves.”

“Make him feel like something full of malice is coming out of the drain every day while he’s out or asleep, wandering around his home, secretly watching him, and he can’t escape. Even if you never show yourself, he’ll eventually scare himself to death.”

“Also…” Lu Yibei’s gaze swept over the hauntings one by one, and she pursed her lips. “I think you’re all too rigid. Even if those humans avoid the triggering conditions of a haunting incident by following the process, you can still scare them!”

“But…” The hauntings looked troubled.

The spread of haunting incidents does follow certain rules. For mid- and low-tier hauntings, and even some high-tier hauntings, the triggering of a haunting incident has set rules. Not following them could affect the stability of their powers.

Just like in the Dusk Maiden legend, she always appears on deserted streets at dusk, never hunting at noon under the blazing sun.

Of course, that was before the Dusk Maiden reached Class A. Many hauntings, after gaining enough strength, change their menu from humans and human fear to other hauntings.

Sensing the thoughts on those creepy faces, Lu Yibei waved her hand and explained, “I’m not telling you to break the rules of haunting incidents to scare people.”

“What I mean is, we can cheat! For example, you all know the Pen Fairy game–if someone lets go in the middle or doesn’t send the Pen Fairy away, that’s what triggers the haunting incident, right?”

The hauntings nodded; two of them even had powers related to the Pen Fairy game.

“Good. So, during the game, use some tricks to force someone to let go, or when they’re about to send the Pen Fairy away, use psychic energy to snap the pen–how about that?”

“Or cut the power so their house goes dark. When they hide under the covers, whip up a gust of wind and blow the covers away or something.”

“Isn’t that a bit…” a haunting hesitated.

“A bit what?” Lu Yibei glared at the haunting. “Little buddy, we’re all hauntings here. We’re not exactly saints. Is it wrong to be despicable, shameless, untrustworthy, and trick people?”

So, after a brief silence, the conference room filled with applause–crisp bone clacks and the sticky splatter of blood.

They’d always relied on instinct, following haunting legends to scare people. Who knew it could be done like this?

So despicable!

Lady Calamity really is the scariest haunting in Hua City!

Lu Yibei basked in the applause of the hauntings, then turned to Du Sixian and raised her eyebrows. “Hey, is my Paper Cicada Immortal ready?”

“Mm-hmm.” Du Sixian nodded. “Come with me…”